SOCIAL POLICY : COUNCIL PLEDGES TO 'PREVENT AND REDUCE' POVERTY.

At the closing conference of the European Year 2010 for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, held on 17 December 2010, the member states officially pledged "to prevent and to reduce poverty and social exclusion". This highly symbolic official declaration concludes an entire year dedicated to combating poverty, but the real commitment will take place in April when member states submit their national reform plans. These will spell out the poverty reduction targets of each member state in support of the goal established in the Europe 2020' strategy (to reduce by 20 million the number of persons at risk of poverty).

The official declaration, baptised Working together to fight poverty in 2010 and beyond', reiterates the European values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity. It also recognises the fundamental right of all women, men and children to live in dignity. The declaration invites the European Union to deliver concrete, satisfactory and urgent answers to the difficulties faced by people living in poverty or social exclusion, by removing obstacles and empowering women and men to change their situation. According to the declaration, the phenomenon must be tackled as a multidimensional issue: fighting it requires the mobilisation of all relevant policies, tools and levels of government, including the development of partnerships.

CLOSING CONFERENCE

The closing conference organised by the...

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